4610.0 - Water Account, Australia, 2008-09  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/11/2010   
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Contents >> Contents >> Introduction

INTRODUCTION


This publication presents information on the supply and use of water in the Australian economy in 2008-09 in both physical (i.e. ML) and monetary terms. The previous release of these data were for the 2004-05 reference year and numerous comparisons between 2004-05 and 2008-09 are made within this publication. The Water Account Australia uses the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water (SEEA-Water; UN 2006) as the underlying conceptual framework. The SEEA-Water was adopted as an interim international statistical standard in 2007 and represents a specific branch of environmental-economic accounting that evolved from the SEEA (UN 2003a).

Figure 1.1 shows the relationship between the physical water flows in the economy and the environment, and is useful for understanding the scope of the Water Account Australia as well as providing an overview of key data. Details of the physical flows are outlined in Chapter 2, while monetary flows are found in Chapter 3. Additional data on other aspects of water are presented in two thematic chapters for the Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Services and Agriculture industries.


Climate

Water supply and use in the Australian economy needs to be viewed in the context of Australia's climate. Mean annual rainfall in Australia varies substantially across the continent. Large areas of Australia have a mean annual rainfall of 600-1500 mm, an amount comparable with most of Europe and North America. However, a key feature of Australia's climate is not the amount of rainfall but the variability in rainfall from year-to-year and season-to-season. Annual rainfall variability is greater for Australia than any other continental region (Smith 1998). Any assessment of water supply and use over time must take this variability into account, including comparisons between the Water Accounts for 2004-05 and 2008-09.

Rainfall in 2008-09 was significantly higher than in 2004-05. In 2008-09 the distribution of rainfall was highly variable with tropical northern Australia experiencing high levels of rainfall while much of south eastern Australia experienced below average rainfall. With many parts of Australia experiencing below average rainfall, this continued the drought conditions existing in some areas. Consequences of this included urban water restrictions and reduced availability of water for irrigators, particularly in south eastern Australia. Appendix 1 provides additional information on the climatic conditions in 2004-05 and 2008-09.


Data Quality and Comparability

The Water Account Australia has drawn on data from a large number of sources. It made use of surveys conducted by the ABS and others, as well as publicly available information found on websites, research papers, annual reports, etc. There are numerous references in the bibliography, providing an indication of the breadth of information used to compile the Water Account Australia. The data sources were of varying quality and the Explanatory Notes provide information on the degree of confidence, in qualitative terms, that can be placed in the estimates.

There have been a number of changes in the data used to compile the 2008-09 Water Account Australia. In particular, more data were obtained from ABS surveys in this edition of the Water Account Australia than previous editions. This, together with increased cooperation and assistance from State, Territory and Australian government agencies, as well as with the water providers, has led to some improvements in the quality of data.

While every care has been taken to ensure consistency between 2004-05 and 2008-09, the changes between the reference periods need to be interpreted with some caution owing to differences in climate, data sources, classifications and in particular the introduction of the Australian New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (or ANZSIC 2006). Extreme care should be taken when making comparisons to the data included in the first Water Account Australia in respect of the years 1993-94 to 1996-97.





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